Mathematics Curriculum Leader: Miss H Clugston

If you have any questions regarding the curriculum we teach, please contact the school office directly and the office staff will pass your enquiry on to the relevant Curriculum Leader.

Intent

At St Michael’s CE Primary we teach mathematics with a Mastery approach. It is expected that children are given opportunity to demonstrate that they are confident in the 3 main aims of the National Curriculum: Fluency, Reasoning and Problem Solving. Children need to learn and remember key facts and knowledge in order to become confident and competent mathematicians and as a school we place great emphasis on these areas. Children use key facts to calculate quickly and confidently use written strategies.  The speed that children calculate is an area of priority, including the recall of times tables and number bonds. Our intention is that children become confident and resilient problem solvers who are able to work systematically and think creatively in order to solve varied and challenging activities. We want our children to be able to connect ideas in mathematics and spot relationships and patterns between numbers. Children will consistently develop and build upon their prior knowledge and skills as they progress through school.  

Implementation

Mathematics is planned over the year to incorporate revisiting and recapping of concepts and strategies.  Over the year, core concepts are revisited and built upon to ensure a depth of understanding is achieved. At St Michael’s we follow a Mastery approach in the Early Years, where teachers teach one number at a time starting with 1 and working up to 20 chronologically throughout the year. All teaching focuses around this number and children are given varied opportunities to learn about this number in continuous provision and adult led tasks. Teachers plan learning that allows children to master concepts through an effective sequence of teaching. Firstly children become fluent in a concept then move to reasoning and problem solving where they are given varied opportunities to apply the skills they have learnt.  A concept is mastered when a child can apply it to a range of situations in a range of different formats and contexts. Teachers use a variety of methods to teach children the knowledge and skills they require including practically (concrete), visually and in written form. A short mental maths starter activity is completed at the beginning of every maths session to ensure that children continue to develop their speed of calculation. Weekly times tables sessions are set as homework to ensure children are fluent at their age-appropriate standard. Children are formally assessed termly to ensure that the skills taught have been mastered using NFER assessments unless they have statutory assessment to complete.

Impact

If children have mastered concepts in mathematics they can remember and use the knowledge and skills learned to solve problems represented in different ways. Effective teaching of mathematics will enable children to become confident and resilient mathematicians. Children will have acquired knowledge of strategies, facts and rules that will allow them to solve mathematical problems in a variety of ways. Children are efficient when solving problems as they can use their understanding of relationships and connections to make connections between and within mathematical concepts. Their mathematical knowledge will progress year on year as well as their problem solving and reasoning skills.

Yearly Overviews - Year 1-6

The following documents show the progression of objectives and skills that children will learn across each strand of mathematics during their time at St Michael's.   

Teaching Sequence (Lesson)

The document below details the mathematical vocabulary that children will learn during their time at St Michael's and which year group they will learn it in. (Currently being reviewed)

Remote Learning Offer